Green Thunder
by Twisted Skys
Summary: SEQUEL TO TOXIC LIGHTNING! Back then, I would have done anything to get home, even kill myself. Now, I would risk everything again, just to get back.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Have you ever thought you wanted something, then when you got it, you realized you were actually happier before? Hah! A real life story in that.

I knew before that I didn't like people. I really didn't. I was the kind of person that would sit in the corner and be ignored. I liked it like that. I didn't mind being the odd person out. No one cared for me and I cared for no one.

That was before I got sucked into a video game. You think I'm crazy, off the wall, bonkers, lost my lid, missing a few screws, I could go on. Sometimes, I even think I'm sanity-challenged. I prefer to call it that, it makes me feel better. The fact of the matter is, I am not sanity-challenged or any other forms of out of minded-ness.

That's right, I was actually sucked into my favorite game. Jak II, to be exact. When I was there I thought I hated it. It wasn't pleasant, that's for sure. You had to constantly prove yourself to people you knew where going to end up dead, and people you wanted dead. You saw death on the streets; whether you were unfortunate enough to accidentally stumble upon a corpse, or you happened to be dealing the death. Either way, death was simply a part; no, a _way_ of life in that world. You constantly were afraid for the only life that mattered: your own.

I knew I was losing my sanity when one day, I woke up and realized I actually wanted to go back. There I could be myself. I didn't have to fight down my emotions or rage at someone or something over some mundane thing. Here, and I'm talking about the world we both sit in, I am nothing more than a robot, forced into such petty tasks, that don't even want to do.

You can guess what I'm talking about. Yup, that's right! _School!_ Haha! What an idiot I am. To think I could get away with such little things as dreams and personality. I told a teacher that I was an assassin once (which I was!), and she told me to stop living in a dream and start focusing on the more important things. Then I asked her, "well, what is the most important thing?"

"Real life, not dreams."

I hated that teacher. As it turns out, she was fired for misconduct with certain students. Wasn't sure what that meant but no one wanted to talk about so I wasn't going to ask. She was a real nasty person, no one liked her, not even other teachers.

So what am I trying to portray to you in this? I don't know. Whatever you want to think of it. A life, a story, something more?

I'm Tosca Malten, formally known as 'Tox'. This is the second half of my story.

**XXX**

**A/N: Sorry no plot, not even a "the story so far…". That will come next week. This is just an introduction to either scare people away or bring in previous readers. If you did not read _Toxic Lightning_ go and read it right now, other wise this story will be confusing and weird. If you have come back to me in search for this sequel, then welcome! I know a lot of people have been waiting for this so here we go!**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	2. Chapter 2

.**Chapter 2**

What can I say? I'm Tox. I like that name better, so I have all my friends calling me such. If you are reading this, then you should know that I have gone on an inter-dimensional journey through my playstation, into the world of Jak and Daxter.

By now, if you haven't read the first half of my journey, are probably thinking I've gone mad. Well, frankly, I haven't. I did go on a trip to Jak-ville and came back to my world nearly unharmed. I'd say I'm pretty proud of myself.

After I came back from my adventure, I was admitted to a hospital. The doctor said that I had been severely electrocuted (I almost laughed at the utter irony) and suffered from a concussion. They asked me a ridiculous amount of question involving what my name was, where I was from, who my parents were, who my best friend was, and a specific childhood event.

I was tempted to tell them about my adventure but decided I didn't want to end up in a psycho-ward. So I remained quiet and let the doctors make sure I was still fit to live. My only really down fall was when they wanted to do a loud noise/reflex test, to make sure I still reacted the way I did when they tested me before. As it turned out, loud noises did not do me well. They diagnosed me with PTSD, post traumatic stress syndrome. They told me it was normal for people who had been through a traumatic experience (such as being electrocuted to the point where I should be dead) to develop PTSD. They also told me it would go away after some time. I knew it never would.

But enough about doctors and their strangely cold hands. What I want to really tell you about is what happened after.

The first three months were great. I loved how everything was so calm all the time. I loved that I could trust people again. I wasn't afraid for my life every time I walked out my front door. I could talk to a random person and not be afraid of being snitched on. I didn't tell anyone, though. Not even my best friends. I loved them, but I didn't trust them.

So the first three months where lovely. Then the most miraculous thing happened: I got bored! Haha! Yup, that's right, people, I was completely and utterly bore with my life of safety. It's nice to have appreciated those months of not having to worry, but I never realized before how absolutely ridiculous this place is!

I wanted to go back to Precursoria. I never realized how much I loved that place under all that hate. Before, I had been so scared and desperate for something familiar, I didn't take the time to really look and appreciate that place as a potential home.

Hell, what am I saying? That half year I was there, it was my home. It still is. And so, my goal hasn't changed. I still want to go home. The only thing that has really changed is my definition of home.

What made things worse was that my parents had been so caught up in my near death experience, they forgot about their own obsessions. But after a few months, they lapsed right back into them again. For Mom: Cleaning, cigarettes, her 'secret' boyfriend that Dad knows about, and of course work. For Dad: drinking, drinking, sluts, drinking, poker, drinking, and did I mention drinking?

Haha! Welcome to the life of little ol' me!

**/-/-/**

"Did you do _la tarea_?" She was tall, blonde, and utterly beautiful. Perfect curves, a smooth face, et cetera. I loved her and hated her. She was best friend.

"I didn't know we had homework." I answered her simply. I, on the other hand, am not beautiful. I have frizzy, mousy brown hair, brown eyes, a weird looking face with fat cheeks, and scar above my left eye. I was ordinary, ugly, et cetera.

"Tosca, your grade is already an 'F', and you're not doing anything about it," she scolded me as she sat down.

"I know Kit-Kat, but I hate Spanish."

"You've hated everything since your accident," she mumbled, not intending me to hear her. I ignored the insult, even though it left an unhappy spark in my chest.

"What was it, anyway?" I decided to humor her.

"_La pagina viente-ocho en el cuaderno practica._"

"Spanish isn't till sixth period; I can probably finish it in history."

Katy shrugged and dug through her backpack for her lunch. She pulled out the plastic and out with the sandwich. She took a bite and handed it to me. I took a bite and handed it back.

There wasn't much conversation between us today. "What?" She asked.

"What do you mean, 'what'?" I looked over at her.

"You haven't said a word."

"So, usually you get agitated when I talk too much."

"But I hate it when you're too quiet. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing," I answered.

"No amazing tale of other worlds?"

"Nope, not today."

"Ran out of stories?"

"I don't think I ever will. I just don't feel like talking today."

She nodded, excepting my answer and handing me the rest of the sandwich. I ate the last three bites and stood. Without a word she handed me the bag and wrapper and I headed for the nearest trash can. It happened to be out of sight from our little quart-yard thing and closer to the main hub of school lunch time activity.

Oh, and look who's standing by the trash can. The world's most nerdiest, weird-in-a-bad-way kid that ever walked the planet. Did I also mention he was very annoying.

He wasn't, in my opinion, worth going to a different trash can just to avoid, however. He saw me nearly immediately and began watching me as I approached. When I simply dumped my trash and kept going, he visibly deflated.

"Hey wait." He ran to catch up to my fast stride.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"Do you have any money or food?"

"No."

"Can we talk about something? Do you like physics or chemistry?"

"No."

He stopped trying to keep up with and watched as I kept going. It wasn't nearly a second later when I heard the chuckles of none other than a bunch of thugs. I stopped in my tracks and spun around to find that said school thugs were converging on the deflated nerd.

Better to prevent a fight than be involved in one. I waved my hand for the nerd to come closer, he was still unaware of the men that wanted to beat the living snot out of him. He brightened and ran up to me, seeming like a little kid promised ice cream.

"Don't talk to me, don't say anything, just walk," I ordered between clenched teeth. I grabbed his shoulder and began leading him toward the science building.

He opened his mouth to protest but at that moment, caught site of the three scowling bullies. He must have had earlier encounters with these guys because he paled dramatically. He turned with much further prompting and started walking toward the science building. "Thanks," he whispered.

"Think nothing of it and never mention it to anybody."

**XXX**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Music, music, music, concentrate on the music. Oh, but the trolley is so loud, there are people walking directly in back of me, screaming and shuffling far too loudly. A skateboarder almost ran me over, the sky is a pale blue and the sun is bright yellow. Precursors, I hate my life!

Haha, isn't it funny, though. How much this whole ordeal bothers me. They don't _have_ to walk directly behind me, yet they aren't actually doing it on purpose. I doubt they even realize it's bugging the crap out of me and setting off my fight or flight reflex. I doubt they even notice I'm here.

I stop, looking up into a tree, pretend I'm looking at a bird. The group of cheerleaders passes me and I continue walking. This is so annoying. I follow them down the street, for they happen to be going in the same direction as I am.

I turn the volume of my Ipod up and hope it drowns out some of all that annoying noise. I stare at the concrete below my feet, trying to black out the world. Finally, I fall into a useless musing, or is it a memory?

I map Haven forest out in my head, the river and the way it felt running over my hands. They way the trees creaked and the sound their leaves made. How the birds would fly about, playing in the sky and blessing me with their music. The way the water felt on my skin, or the way that it shimmered and vibrated when electricity surged through it. I also remember the temple and they way the metal popped and dinged after the sun went down, and it cooled. I loved the way the hollow noise would travel for so far in the quiet evening.

I also remember the way the zoomers sounded, their own unique noise as they zipped across the sky. Or the way they felt when they were under you, that exhilarating feeling. Or the feeling you get the first time you shoot down a metal head; that pride and triumph.

The train raced past, it's wail knocking me out of my dreams and ruining the moment. Ah, well; it was nice while it lasted, like the whole trip to Precursora. It was best just to get my mind around here, this place. Society is better, safer, nicer. It wasn't a dog-eat-dog world here. It is a sit on your ass and get fat society. It was what I wanted, right?

Right?

I scan my pass for the trolley and wait on the bench for the next one going west. I sit by myself, detached from the rest of the high school students waiting for trolley. I sit straight on the bench, staring straight ahead. I'm not looking at anybody, not talking to anybody, not even texting. I've found out that this posture and attitude tends to scare people off.

Unfortunately, it was that moment, I found out my actions from earlier got me another stalker. There was Microbe, the boy I saved earlier. Everybody called him that, even the teacher. I don't think anybody knows what his real name is or why he's even in school. He's smart enough to be out of college by now. He tells people that he works for the government but I doubt it. I think he just looks for attention.

Regardless, he's standing by the soda machine, trying for all his might to look casual. To someone else, I suppose he might be fooling someone, but not me. I've been trained to look for spies and informants, to look for people that are trying to be casual but are obviously not. In other words, I've seen Sig do better, and it's hard for a big, black, desert survival dressed man to look casual. It just isn't…

I stare at him until he realizes I've spotted him. My stare turns into a glare when we make eye contact, telling him silently to go away. He comes over. He's either too stupid or just desperate.

"Fancy meeting you here," he smiled at me, showing a mouth full of metal. "Come here often?"

"You are not amusing," I deadpan.

He deflated for the second time that day, at least that I had seen. "Thanks for saving me."

"You already thank me, go away."

"Can I come over to you house or something?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"My mom doesn't like men, she's a lesbian." That was the lie of the century. I personally have nothing against homosexuals but my mother thinks of them as spiders. What can I say? She's a cruel woman.

"Oh." He was quiet for a moment. "What's your name?"

"You ask if you can come home with me before you even know my name?"

He shrugged.

I rolled my eyes and stood, seeing my trolley. "Green line or Orange line?"

"What?"

"The trolley lines, which one do you take?"

"Eh, neither?"

"Then goodbye."

"Wait! I didn't get your name!"

"I know." Before he could say anything more, I boarded the trolley and went to find a seat. He stood by the door for a moment, as if in indecision, then stepped back as they closed. The horn honked and the little red train started to move, leaving Microbe on the platform.

**/-/-/**

It was Saturday at last, and I had just finished my usual rounds. That meant I had money in my pocket, exhaustion in my limbs, but satisfaction for a day's hard work. Every Saturday I go around and do chores for people, they give me money in return. No big deal, moving on.

What made today special was the fact that I could add another twenty-fie dollars to my jar, making just over three hundred. Enough to get a new playstation since my old one took a dump on me way back when. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about.

I hurried to my room, eager to look at all my hard earned money. This was exciting, finally I could play Jak and Daxter again. It had been way too long. I could honestly say I missed Jak. And I don't mean the whole control his every action either. I miss that friendship we had. I wonder if he misses me too, or if he's forgotten me.

But this isn't the time. I enter my room, see nothing amiss but still have that aching foreboding in my gut I get every time something bad is about to happen. Please let it be nothing but past nightmares coming to the surface.

I reach under my bed, feel around until my fingers brush against the cold, smooth glass of my money jar. I roll it toward me and allow it to come into view.

The only thing that I could think of next was: "Shit! Not again!"

**XXX**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Shit! Not again!" I say it loud enough the whole world probably heard me. But do you think I care? Not in the slightest! The world could hear me scream then roll over and die for all I care! I hate everything; my mother, my father, my school, my friends, and most importantly that little _rat_ my parents insist is my sister!

Oh, dear Precursors, she was going to die today. I was going to strangle her until the light dies from her eyes. I storm from my room, across the hall, and throw my entire weight on the door to her room. At first it doesn't give and step back enough to kick it. A loud pop as the metal gave way and the door swung open.

And there she is, ladies and gentlemen, the _rat_, or more commonly know as Haley. She spins in her chair in front of her computer, to look at me with wide eyes. She looked innocent- not she was the very embodiment of innocent. Bright blue eyes stare me in fear (that was not real, I'll tell you that!), her blonde curls framing a petite little nine year old face. I swear, she based her entire way of life on those stupid cartoon girls that got anything they wanted by looking innocent, then turning around biting other people in the ass.

"What do you want?" she questioned.

"My money."

She then smiled, as if she found something really funny and just couldn't hold that smile back anymore. "I'm sorry. I needed for a new game (insert some sort of ridiculous game site that has the name Geegee Pets, or something)."

"You spent all of it?"

"No, I gave the rest to Mom." Her smile got a little wider. "You know what she says about you keeping money from her."

"I swear to God, Haley, if you steal my money again, I'll gut you out on a pike and display it to all the neighbors."

She had turned around, faking a yawn and moving her attention to the pink computer. "Right, that's what you said last time. You know that either I get it, or Mom finds out you've been stealing it from people."

She didn't get to say much else because I left the room. Yeah, real smooth. But she was right. I couldn't hide my money from her, and if she didn't find it, she'd tell Mom I had money, which was one of the house rules. I wasn't allowed to have money. Of course, neither does she. She just uses Mom's credit card and dumps all my money in Mom's purse, like the good little girl she is.

I slam the door behind me and collapsing on my bed, feeling the need to both scream and cry. Why was it always so hard? Why was it always so unfair?

I suddenly stood up, seeing my empty jar. It was pointless, always pointless. I was stuck, couldn't escape, felt trapped, suffocated, and angry. I was so angry, I didn't know what to do with it. I wanted to scream, cry, thrash, destroy something. I wanted to be back with Jak, with Crow, and Sig. I wanted to go home where I belonged.

About then in my internal ranting, was the first time I felt it. It was both beautiful and ugly, painful and sweet. Light a fluttering heart, it was energy, and it was mine. I was stupid, defiant, and longing for my freedom. I reached inside myself and reached for it. And then, electricity was everywhere. Toxic green in color, it danced and wove through the air, cracking and snapping, and setting my senses on fire.

It took me a moment, then but I reigned myself in and pulled a lid on it. The effort left me sprawled out on the floor, breathing heavily and laughing hysterically.

**/-/-/**

What's the best way to avoid stalkers? Pretend you don't see them…

Of course, it doesn't always work. "Hi!"

"Go away, Microbe."

No deflation, I'm frightened. "That was really amazing what you did on Saturday." He was walking beside me now, somehow able to keep up with my stride.

"What are you talking about?" I asked incredulously.

He smiled at me then. It was the kind of smile you had when you found out your best friend had a crush. It was creepy. "I have to ask, were you wearing conductors? The way you wielded that lightning was so cool!"

I grabbed him hard and through him into a wall, out of the sight of the other students. I gained a few looks but I couldn't give a rat's ass. "Have you been stalking me?"

"I wouldn't call it stalking. More like keeping tabs, or watching your back." He shrugged, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that he pinned to a stucco wall. "So really, how'd you do it? Where you wearing conductors or something? Or were you born with this power?" His eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh I get it! You're a super hero, like Batman, or Superman. Can I be Louis Lane?"

Okay, what? Did he just…? But then in moments of great panic, come great ideas (or bad, depending on how you want to look at it). I let him go. "You are the weirdest human I have ever met."

"So you aren't human!"

"Shut up! Idiot, I don't want the whole world to know."

He suddenly looked ashamed. "Sorry." He paused a moment to look guilty before he got over it and asked me another question. "Where are you from?"

"Another dimension. I came here to search out information but I'm stuck now."

"Stuck?" he repeated. I hated it when people did that.

"Yes, stuck. My portal blew up."

"So why don't you make a new one?"

"I don't know how." I stated bluntly. "And the fact that your currency is hard to get a hold of."

"I have plenty of money! I can give you some!"

"But that doesn't solve my problem."

He looked to be in thought for a moment, mulling it over. Outside, I was looking over my shoulder, pretending to be paranoid. On the inside, I was trying not to scream with joy. This was a chance, a real chance to get home.

"I've had a few theories of my own about dimensional travel, but I don't know where to start. Not only that, but I don't think I can pinpoint a certain place in the layers of reality."

I was dancing the Macarena by now. "I can fix that! Just build it, and I can do the rest."

"On one condition." He suddenly took on an act that resembled a kid with too much power. I was scared again, and most defiantly not dancing. "You have to me girlfriend."

"_What_!" Oh no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Bad idea, bad, bad, bad!

_It's your only way home… And it's not like your ever coming back._

Sigh. "Fine, I'll be your girlfriend."

Damn that insufferable smile, and the smugness. The little bastard was my only way home. How stupid!

**/-/-/**

How stupid can I get? It's been three days and he hasn't even mentioned his part of the deal. He's spent the last three days spreading around the news that we're 'dating'. Worse decision of my life. Either that or I'm just impatient.

It doesn't change the fact that I'm now the laughing stock of the entire school. But it's okay, I'm never coming back to this place as soon as I get a portal. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself. The beginning part, I mean. I don't think I could come back after this humiliation, even if I decided I wanted to.

He told me today that he would come over to my house right after school, before my parents came home, with a little surprise for me. I'm both apprehensive and not a little pissed. I wonder if he chose today because he knew my parents and sister wouldn't home until eight. If he's planning to get laid, he's got another thing coming, like a new face.

**XXX**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

He knocked, which was not what I was expecting. I let him in and he didn't say a word to me as moved inside, pulling a classic red wagon piled high with boxes of every size. He wheeled it over to the TV and sat on the couch. I followed him and collapsed next to him.

"Okay," he said after a long moment. "So, I have a PS2, PS3, and Xbox. Which one should be the best?"

"PS2."

He nodded and waved his hand at me. "Could you set it up, I don't know how."

I nodded and was about to set to work when I realized that it would mean me on my hands and knees, with my ass in the air. "You can set it up," I deadpanned. "You just want to see my ass."

He smiled. "That was the point."

Cheeky, little bastard.

I set it up regardless, him watching me the entire time. I couldn't wait until I had leave to knock his teeth out of his skull. It only took me a few minutes, and I was sitting next to him on the couch again.

"Okay," he said. "This is the fun part."

He then himself got on his hands and knees and began fiddling with the casing on the machine. "Shouldn't you unplug it first?"

"Says the girl who shoots lightning from her hands." Insert glare here. "Go do something else for a while, you'll only be a distraction."

**/-/-/**

So I made food. I felt like a wife, especially when I brought to him and he thanked me in that snooty little manner he always carries around with him. Why do all the smart people have to be the bad kind of weird?

As unfortunate as that was, I had to admit I was glad I met him. He was giving me a chance to get home and that more than I could have ever wanted from another person. Maybe I should give him a chance, at least try to like him.

Maybe this was my chance to find love for myself, as well. No has ever shown interest in me before. I know why, and it's never offended me because I never thought on it before. In truth, I was sarcastic, boyish, rude, and not pretty. I belched after every meal, loud enough to make a trucker blush, I pick my nose and scratch my butt, I hardly ever take care of my hair. My clothes are baggy, torn, and old. I'm not the ideal prize for most teenage boys.

I should look past his nerdy nature, maybe he could show love. Maybe I should give him a chance…

I walk out of the kitchen, carrying a bowl of popcorn. I set it down on the floor next to him and he mumbles a thank you.

"Microbe," I said, getting his attention nearly immediately. "If we're going to be together, then you better start treating me right." I through my hand at him in an annoyed gesture. "Not like some trophy wife."

He was confused for a second, then his eyes seemed to light up. He shook his head enthusiastically at her. Still smiling wide, he stuffed his face with popcorn and went back to work.

**/-/-/**

He worked for several hours, slowly turning the playsation into something that resembled those freaky machines in the old horror movies. Parts of it glowed, and electric synapse glided from one point to another, and it generally looked creepy.

He was looking down at it when I walked in, a proud expression on his face. When he spotted me, he smiled and motion toward it. "I finished it." He looked at the clock. "And in only three hours."

"Does it work?" I asked.

"What?" It wasn't a question of his hearing but understanding. "Well, I think. It should, hypothetically."

Good enough for me. "Turn it on." I moved forward and pulled the case to Jak II out of my pocket. This was the very CD the transported me the first time. It had the scar to prove it.

I put it in the drive and watched it go in as Microbe was busying himself moving components around and flicking switches. The TV screen turned to the regular playstation screen. The picture then froze and stuttered, going black for a moment. Then the whole room was illuminated by the bright light that flashed through the room.

I felt an arm on mine, pulling me back and away from the TV as it began spewing bolts of lightning of every color. "Just wait a moment!" He had to yell to be heard over the growing roar that was the forming portal.

I knew he wanted to flee, to run away. I knew he was scared. This was dangerous to him, watching this portal to another dimension form in my living room. But to me, this was a blessing. I watched the lightning dance and tremble, so dangerous and beautiful. I wanted to touch them but knew I shouldn't.

It was so… indescribable. The way I felt. I don't know what I felt. Euphoric maybe. Scare, hopeful. Yes, very hopeful.

All of a sudden, the lightning calmed in a single snap and flash of light. Now the screen was just white. There was no noise, but so much atmosphere. The air seemed thinker, wetter.

Microbe showed up next to me a moment later. "It worked." He sounded genuinely surprised.

"You're surprised?" I asked. "You are a genius."

He looked at me and smiled. "I'm glad it was worth it for you."

I step forward, reaching out to touch the screen but find that nothing is there but a slight pulling on my fingers. "It's time for me to go."

"Wait!" He yelled, moving quickly to my side. "In case there is repercussions, I'll need to be able to pull you back."

"Repercussions?"

"Yeah, like people or creatures from the target world end up here somehow."

"Ah, yes. Good idea."

He handed me what looked like a little square computer chip about the size of my thumb, laced onto a nylon cord. He went around behind me and I gave him the liberty to put it around my neck himself. He seemed to linger there for only a moment more than necessary, before allowing me to go forward.

Once he was done, I moved to the TV again and stuck my hand in again. Then my arm, then my shoulder. I looked back at Microbe, and he was watching me with worried eyes, genuinely worried eyes. It was the last thing I knew before a bright white light, then nothing but darkness.

**XXX**

**A/N: Cliff hanger!**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_Soft, caresses, grass, and water. Trees that towered high above the world, shielding the ground from the sun. I remember the forest so easily. It's the first thing that always come to mind when I think of home. In a world that was so chaotic, the forest was a safe haven away from Haven. It was away from the death and the violence. I felt safe there. The way the trees moved and filled the air with their soft whispers, the way the butterflies brushed pass your face, looking for a safe place to land. Everything was perfect and calm._

_ I remember that I was always afraid to go to the forest. The reason was simple: I was afraid to fall in love with this place. I wanted to get home so much I didn't want to stop and think this place as a home. It frightened me to get attached. I didn't want that. The forest was peaceful, it was a home. I was just too blind to see that._

_ The forest alone was not the only thing I was blind about. The entire time I was there, I was convinced I was alone in the world. No one cared for a lost little girl like me. I look back at it now and I realize how utterly blind I was._

_ The day I left, I was with Jak and Daxter. They were right beside me, fighting beside me with no hesitation, watching my back. They were relying that I would return the favor. Instead, I left them for my own selfish leap of faith. I left Jak to fight by himself when he asked me to help him. I was truly blind to think no one would notice I was gone, to think I was all alone in the world._

_ What a sick, selfish fantasy I held in my head. To think that I could actually throw away their lives to fulfill something that could not have worked. I was just lucky it did._

_ But then, after all I put the people that cared for me through, after all that happened I regret everything. I want to go back. I want to live it all again, and would do just that in a heartbeat._

_ All the fear I had felt, all the times I had thought I was going to die… It was all worth it. My entire life, I had felt that my life was wasted on a place and time where I didn't belong. It would be worth it to go back and do it again because it had been the first time that I had actually felt alive. I didn't feel that each breath that left my body, and each new bit of oxygen wasn't a waste. The mere fact that I had to fight to keep each of those breaths made them worth the energy to take them._

_ All that time that I had been scared to become a part of that place, there was so many ways that it asked me to just relax. It offered me so many opportunities that I wish I hadn't ignored. There was so many callings, so many places for me to go. It gave exactly what I wanted and I ignored it because I was scared._

_ I was selfish and scared because I just wanted to go back to someplace familiar. My only problem is that one I got back home, I realized that my definition of 'home' had changed._

_ I realized that I had changed. I wasn't the same person anymore. My world, that I had fought tooth and nail to return to, wasn't all it was cracked up to be. At first, I tried to believe that I just saw things a little differently and things would settle back to normal. It was then I realized I didn't want it to go to normal; that I had been happy, and had thrown in away._

_ Precursora is my home. Like before, all I want is to go home. The only thing different is where home is._

**/-/-/**

The desert stretched out in front of him like sea of brown. The horizon was blurred by the receding sandstorm, leaving the sky above a clear as a crystal. Krow's bright grey eyes scanned the sandy expanse in front of him, trying to discern anything that had been uncovered in the sand.

The storm had just passed and the desert was finally safe for drivers. At least for the moment. Seeing nothing of interest from his vantage point, the wastelander pulled down his seedy goggles from their resting spot on his forehead and stood up in the car seat.

His eyes scanned the sky again, before spotting a glinting piece of metal gliding through the sky. Krow kept his eyes on it as he searched the passenger seat blindly for the mirror he carried. He found it and started signaling the flyer with it, shining the sun's reflection in that general direction.

The glider dove suddenly, making it's bird like shape more easy to see as it got closer to the earth. Krow put the reflective glass next to him and waved his massive arms as the glider flew closer.

In a sudden flair of blue exhaust flames, the glider burst directly over the car, almost in reach of the driver. It then rose back into the air again and circled above the car. Krow collapsed back into the seat and started the engine.

The glider dove again, this time the pilot facing the ground as it came up from a tailspin. The flying machine suddenly shot off toward the west with another gout of blue flames.

"Show offs," Krow remarked as he tore after the flyer. He followed it for several minutes, watching as it dove and twisted through the air. It dove one final time once they were on the same plain of vision then rose back up into the air, not bothering to stop until it was well out of sight. It didn't matter however; Krow could see what it was leading him to. He drove up next to the artifact and leaned out the roll cage to pick it up. It was triangle shaped and fit nicely in the palm of his hand. It was bronze, made of Precursor metal, warm to the touch and pulsing faintly.

The wasteland turned in his seat to put it in an armored box strapped to the back of his land vehicle. He sat back in his seat, noting a light explosion off back to the east. Probably a fellow wastelander getting into a tangle with some marauders.

He sat for a few moments, searching for another glider but they all seemed all seemed to be in other places. Krow started the car again in hopes that moving to another part of the desert would come to have more benefits. Just as he was about to take off, he saw a glider coming down evenly, which meant it was landing.

Glider pilots knew better than to land in the desert. The only reasons were if communication was vital as comm. devices didn't work on the gliders, or if the pilot or machine had been injured. Krow did a quick examination of the person and device and saw no obvious error, so he assumed it was the first option.

"What is it?" He asked as the glider touched down and pulled up a lever on the front of the device. The ground's man didn't know what the lever was for, he was never really one for the flyer's devices, preferring to keep his feet on the ground.

"Explosion in the east. Went to check it out, found a person."

"Dead?"

"Dunno, not moving."

"Anybody else in the area?"

"Nope, all up north keepin' the maries back. You the closest one to us." He pointed, squinting in the sunlight. "Just a little east, not far from where Vi found ya."

Krow settled into the seat of his car and drove it off into a spin then back in the direction he came from. The spin gave the pilot enough time to get airborne before the car had gotten away.

It was dangerous for the gliders to stay too close to the ground for too long. They were good targets for marauders, or the slang term 'maries.'

Krow watched the glider as it gained altitude and speed. The pilot, Zeljeko, maneuver the machine quickly, catching up to the ground vehicle easily, and leading him to the downed person.

Zel dove toward it then rose back into the sky again, disappearing. Krow had found the body easily, lying half buried in the sand, scorch marks across the ground. Half of the wastelander demanded he kill it and leave. Another part told him to find out who it was first.

He pulled himself out of the car and onto the sand, trying to look at the face of the person with getting to close. She was female, brown hair, strange clothing, and finger tips that glowed slightly.

He recognized her nearly immediately, running to the girl's side and picking her out of the sand.

"Tox," he called, trying to rouse the unconscious girl.

She twitched slightly, squinting up at him, her eyes glowing like her fingers. "Hey," she sighed. "I hope I'm not dreaming…" She then fell back into a sleep like state, again falling limp in his arms.

The wastelander pulled her up into his arms, carrying her back to the city.

**XXX**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Holy shit on a golden plate, my head hurts! Good news is: I thought I saw Krow earlier. That makes me happy. Either it means that I'm going to start having really cool dreams or it wasn't a dream at all. I really hope it wasn't a dream. The bad news is: I feel like I was hit with an electrified lead pipe.

I also felt sandy, very sandy. Wasn't sure if that's a good thing or not but it is uncomfortable.

I move slightly, but don't open my eyes. I don't feel ready yet. The moving, though, has told me that I am laying in a bed somewhere. Movement beside me tells me that I am not alone.

That's a good enough reason to open my eyes. I crack them open at first, realizing that it's easier said then done. But the sight that greets me is a pleasant one.

Krow's face is above mine, looking down at me with obvious worry and confusion. "Hey," I croak. "Good to see you." My voice is weak and the rest of me is tired too, not to mention my headache.

Krow raises an eyebrow at me. "Yeah, but how are you here? I thought you were dead."

"Is that the story?" I asked. Did they really think I died in that battle?

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Krow got like this whenever I got cryptic on him. He hated it, and always had a knack of making me give him straight answers.

"I honestly don't know what you think happened to me, so why don't you tell me what happened so I can figure out the best way to explain it." Talking is hard when all you want to do is go back to sleep. But I was also afraid to go back to sleep. What if I wake up back on earth?

Krow sits back in the seat I hadn't even realized he had been sitting in. "You went to help your dark friend save the city. You didn't come back. Not even he knew what happened to you. Everyone thought you were dead."

"Who's your source?"

"Kidavi."

Ah, yes. Dear Kid. She was my age, a little older maybe, and a tomboy/cross-dresser. Charming personality, didn't know she was boy until about month after I met her. She prefers to be referred to by the feminine pronoun. Turns out, KG like women rather than men racing around on hover-boards. She's incredibly smart, and really good at getting information that is otherwise impossible to get.

"So, what's the truth?"

I looked up at him, leaving my musings about Kid alone for the moment. "I went to my home world," I answered bluntly.

Krow blinked and took a moment. I had told him before that I was from a different dimension. Looking back at it, I'm sure he thought I was crazy.

"You actually went back?"

"Yup."

"So then why are you here?"

What's a good answer? The straight truth or a modified version of the truth? It's not like I don't trust him, because I do. I just like keeping things to myself if it's possible. And besides that, this isn't something I like to admit so freely.

"I was thrown back after a while."

"After a while?" He repeated. Why do people do that?

"Yes."

"So you were there for a while and then you were suddenly sent back?"

"How else would I end up…" I didn't know where I was… "Here." That was a lame ending…

He seemed to sense how lame that was. "The wasteland," he enlightened me. "You are in the wasteland."

The wasteland? (Crap! I did it in my mind! I'm so lame…) How the hell did I end up here from the original place that I was at? I was originally in the pumping station, if anyone recalls. I sure you do, it was a rather frightening situation, watching me try to make a rational plan while laughing manically. Oh yeah, good times.

"Spargus?"

Krow looked genuinely surprised all of a sudden. "How do you know of the city?"

Dammit! Why did I always have to let on that I know everything? It seriously wasn't healthy for me. "Eh, I heard it from a traveler."

That's right. I told him the last time we were together that I was from a different dimension, but I did not elaborate how I got here. That also means that I didn't tell him that I in our world, Precursora was a part of a video game, and that I probably knew more about the great warrior Mar than most scholars.

"No one knows about Spargus, that isn't a Spargian."

"He was a marauder." That made sense, right?

Obviously it did because he grudgingly accepted my answer. "Answer one more." When I nodded he continued. "Will you try to get back this time?"

An answer I didn't need to think about. I answered him firmly, setting my resolve. "No."

**/-/-/**

I slept for what felt like days but knew it was only hours. When I woke again, Krow was not there but another familiar face was. "Seem." I whispered it to myself, but the monk heard me. She turned to look at me, something akin to surprise and annoyance in her eyes.

"So you have heard of me," she said softly, in that whispery little voice of hers.

"A few things." At least she didn't ask me how I knew her.

She nodded and saw fit not to continue our little conversation. I was still tired but my mind seemed to be in two billion places at once. "I'm Tox."

"I know who you are, traveler."

Traveler? What the hell did that mean? I wanted to ask her but she seemed to be doing something else with her back to me. Now I know how my victims feel when I accidently slip how much I know.

That was pretty much it on the conversation level with the girl so I decided to take in my surroundings. I was in another Spargan house, but a different one from the one that I had woken up last time. The window was in a different place and I could hear the ocean from here. It was fairly dark in here except for the golden light streaming in through said window.

"Where am I?"

"The healing centers."

"Why? I thought I was doing pretty well where I was before."

"Krow had other things to do than watch over an unconscious girl. He brought you to me."

"You know who I am?" I got her talking, I wasn't going to waste the opportunity. She seemed like an all knowing person, the kind that knew more about you than your best friend. She was creepy that way, so I had to know how much _she_ knew.

"I know you have traveled a long way and have special _abilities_ because of it."

Hmm, pretty spot on. Looking back at it, she was the first person that knew more about me at first glance than I knew about her, if you don't admit her near future. Speaking of that, I don't know what time period I was sent too. Obviously it's post-Kor enough that word of my departure has reached the wasteland, but still could be pre-Jak since Krow still called him 'my dark friend' instead of whatever he would call him when he became a part of Spargus.

"Has the Dark One showed up yet?"

"I am not sure what who you are referring to."

"I'm going to say no then. What about the Daystar?"

She turned very suddenly to me. "How do you know of the Daystar?"

"The fact that you are surprised had told me it has yet to make an appearance."

"It will come soon?"

"Yes."

An interesting expression crossed her face, one I couldn't read, as she turned back around to the table she was working in front of. She was deathly still for a long moment then went back to whatever she had been doing. I was about to ask what it was when she turned back to me holding a clay bowl.

She moved to the side of the bed, not saying a word and her face was carefully kept neutral. She set the bowl on the floor and sank to her knees. Dipping one hand in the brick-red substance, she picked up my hand with other, and smeared the stuff over my finger. That was the first time I noticed that my finger tips were an interesting color of black, as if they had been charred.

"What happened to my hand?"

"It looks like eco burns and some deterioration of the skin," the monk answered, her voice as neutral as her face. It was annoying.

I wanted to make some snide comment at her but felt it would not make me feel better and decided to stay quiet and let her work. She rubbed the stuff into my skin, which made them feel tingly as apposed to feeling nothing, like they had before she started. Once she was done she picked up the bowl and returned it to the table she had first mixed it on. She then reached down and opened a drawer, pulling out a package.

"These have clothing in it that will fit you. Put them on when you feel well enough to leave."

She did not say anything else, waved to a mirror on the other side of the room to draw my attention to it. By the time I looked back at her, she was gone from the room, probably out the door.

Left alone in the dark, I fell asleep again.

**XXX**

**A/N: A/N: I threw so many references in this, I'm not going to try to explain them all. One of the biggest is the glider scene. I will explain a bit for this one. My big project, The Hidden Library, has these gliders in them as a big part of the story concept. So they're there as a bit of a tease. I'm also thinking about giving Tox a new weapon. I didn't get as far into the plot with chapter than I thought I was, so I couldn't give it to her yet. She makes a comment about it. Another thing: My character expansion for this is including all the characters that were supposed to be in TL but never made it. Kid was one of them. I love his character concept but I didn't have a place to put him before. I hope you enjoyed, and as it turns out, I write better at two in the morning than at two in the afternoon. (At least I feel more sarcastic)**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_It was dark and there was something moving in the shadows. It shifted, like an ancient monolith awoken from centuries of slumber. Dirt moved away from it's sides and dust rose up into the darkness as light shown from below._

_ The light had no real source but it still existed. A terrible erupted from the moving beast, big yellow eyes and gleaming ivory fangs. It was grinning, ready to eat and hungry._

_ **You stepped too far.**_

_ It moved again, the ground trembling and shifting as it planted it's massive feet on the ground. One of those claws rose up, the tips glowing. It drew runes in the air, their glow far outlasting the action itself._

_ **You stepped too far. You will fall.**_

_ The monster faded, the light faded, the runes faded. Then they pulsed and burned into existence, brighter than any sun._

_ **You have stepped too far. You will fall. You will only land in Darkness. You are not of this world, and no longer of the other. You have no home, no origin, and will travel and seek and fall into Darkness.**_

**/-/-/**

I woke with a start, finding the room I lay empty and dark. At first I wasn't totally sure I had woken up but I could hear the ocean so I guessed I was. I removed the blanket over my lower half carefully, finding myself stiff.

At my motion, a light flickered on over the head board. It was blinding at first but I was thankful for the illumination. I sat and moved off from the bed. My legs were a little sore but they held me. I stretched, hearing several joints crack and realign themselves in the proper places.

I found the clothes that Seem had left out for me and removed my torn up undershirt and jeans that I had been wearing. I was thankful they didn't undress me but still felt dirty as I removed them from my skin.

I pulled the clothing on and strapped on the necessary straps of armor. I looked at myself in the mirror once I was done and was shocked.

The last time I was in Precursia, I could never find a mirror, nor was I too intent on finding one. When I did, I felt appalled by how changed I had looked. I had long ears, manageable brown hair, and glowing green eyes. The only thing that was truly different from last time was that the tip of my mid-back length hair had turned snow white. It shocked me a little. What could have caused that?

I examined it for a moment then decided to leave it for later examination. I braided my hair back, still unnerved that the tips of my fingers were still charred looking. At least I could feel this time.

The clothing was standard issue, it seemed. Covering enough to let me feel protected but still complementary to my womanly figure. A black, sleeveless tunic, off-white pants, knee-high metal plated combat boots, and a strap of steel plating around my torso.

Once I was satisfied with my appearance I moved to the door and stepped outside. I was on ground level, next to the ocean, left of the turret. Sparus city was nearly empty at this time of night but there was someone sitting up in the turret. I could see it swivel on it's axis every couple of minutes.

Someone was waiting for me outside the door. I didn't see her until she stood up. She was a wastelander, one I had never seen before. Bright blue eyes and sandy blond hair, she was almost as small as me, which was saying something, and wore a lighter version of wasteland armor, more like what I was wearing except with more pieces.

She smiled and waved, and I decided that she was friendly enough. She looked to be my age, maybe a year or two older. "Hey," she greeted. "I'm Vieres, but call me Vi."

"Tox."

"Nice ta meet ya." She waved me forward as she herself started to walk down the street. "I've been ordered ta take ya to the arena when you woke up. It's still pretty early, so you'll be fighting in the first couple of rounds."

I almost asked what she meant but then in struck me. The Spargan tests, how could I have forgotten! Oh crap, I have to fight big scary muscular guys.

"Do I get a weapon?" They gave Jak a weapon, right? It's been a while since I played Jak 3. I remember all of the story but not all of the gameplay. I know Jak can handle himself without a gun…

"A'course," she laughed a little, like I had said something funny. "You'll get ta choose from the armory, and if ya live, ya get ta keep it."

"That's gratifying…"

"Yup. Used ta be that ya had ta put it back when ya was done, but we lost too many people that way, so His Majesty let us start keepin' the weapons we won."

"I'm not really a fighter," nor am I anything else… and this girl has really bad grammar. Curse my inability to not be a nerd. It was one thing when Daxter calls you a nerd, but another thing entirely when Jak did it…

"Well then, ya better learn fast."

"Can I go back to Haven? I wasn't banished, my transport ship was shot down."

She laughed a little. "Ya obviously didn't come from Haven. From what we were told, Spargus and Kras are the two remaining strongholds now. Ya don' wanna go back ta that shit hole."

True enough. "I know but I'd rather be eaten than beaten." Wow! That rhymed!

She laughed harder this time. "Don' worry. You'll get time ta practice before we throw ya in." She looked at me. "I'd rather have a say in what's been said then be eaten by a metal head."

Wow! She can rhyme, too! I like her already.

**/-/-/**

It looked like a vault full of weapons. I could take one. But oh, there was so many. Vi was standing next to me, watching me carefully as I picked up one, held it in my hands, then put it back. I went through a few like this, not really deciding. Every time I found one I thought I could work with, I saw something else with more potential.

After about fifteen minutes, I had decided on a wicked looking gun-staff that had the head of a giant cow prong. It was long, had a scythe-like blade on the opposite side of the head. The head itself was made of steel but as I charged it, it glowed blue. The prongs in the front were obviously for stabbing but were too blunt for serious damage. The default was for aim, I was guessing. But they were also made out of steel, a natural electric conductor… I could get creative with this thing (this is where I grin maliciously).

I nodded to Vi when I was satisfied with my pick and she closed the vault with a soft grunt. She motioned for to follow her through the dark halls under the palace and arena. I had yet to see any other wastelanders, but I was kind of glad. I honestly wasn't sure if they were going to have to kill me or if I was reserved for the Marauders.

"Who will I be fighting?"

"Low-lifes and prisoners, as is most of the time the tested's opponents."

That made me feel better. I was going to be fighting demoralized freaks. Yay! No mercy for me! (I am going to die…)

At least they were giving a few minutes to get acquainted with my new weapon, which had conveniently folded up and was slung across my back, before I was forced to permanently part with it.

Vi led me down several halls and into another room. It was empty save for a climbing wall, targets, and stuffed dummies. We walked in together but she stayed near the door. "I'll leave ya alone ta train." She then left me alone in the room, closing the door behind her. I heard a distinct click as the door closed, and it was then that I realized that I was a prisoner until I proved myself worthy.

Something settled in my chest as I realized this, something akin to hateful respects. I growled, feeling trapped but no longer scared. It was funny what anger could do to a person.

If they wanted to lock me up, then I will show them what a caged animal could do. I walked up to a dummy, poked it with the tip of my gun, then gave it a good whack, followed by a swipe from the scythe, effectively decapitating it.

A twisted smile spread across my face, that year in Haven had taught me to kill it before it kills me. I tried not to think about the first kill, the first life I had taken. It was too painful, too real. It had been that moment that the situation I was in had really sunk in. That moment, when that guard suddenly pulled me into the shadows under a midnight moon, and tried to rip at my already torn shirt. That moment when I panicked and tried to get away. The moment he had died, his entire body frying like a cooked rat.

The funny thing about that entire example of Haven's protectors, I was not traumatized because _I_ had almost been raped, but because it had _me_ and not _someone else._ It could have been the person right before me, or right after me, it could have been someone else, but it had been me. I had been able to protect myself where someone else would not have been able to. I had been able to get away unharmed, someone else might not have been so lucky.

Because it had been _me_ and not someone else told me that I was supposed to protect myself because I had the ability. I could not pity myself because I had been blessed. I had to protect myself, and never stop fighting because there were others that wanted to fight back but didn't have the ability. That was when I learned how to control these powers, when I decided to make a plan, and when I chose not to give up.

**XXX**

**A/N: Sorry about the ending rant but I needed a little more to finish this off but I didn't want to move onto the next scene. Besides, I wanted to give an example of Tox's psychology. I hope you enjoyed.**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

It was rather surreal. A few minutes ago, I had been scared shitless. Now I feel nothing. Just nothing, and not much more. I had been scared but determined to go ahead and try, to fight for my life.

I had barley heard Vi's voice, or the cheering of the crowd, or Damas telling me to begin. All I really remember about the whole ordeal was the first guy. I'm not a good fighter. If anything, I'm a sharp-shooter, not a frontline grunt. The guy was massive and he got the better of me.

Then all I remember after that is standing in front of Damas, my head hurting and hands feeling they were caught on fire then mashed with a boulder. The king was giving a strange look, one that spoke of both caution and acceptance. Come to think about it, I was as much of a freak as Jak and he accepted him…

He gave me my amulet, telling me I did well. Then I left the arena as the next fight started. Vi was the one that really struck me out of my haze. "Damas loved ya!" She hugged me.

"What?" Except is came out more like, 'whup'.

She pulled me away to look at me. "What ya did in arena. I thought ya was fuck'd there fer a minute, but then ya started ta kick ass. People were getting fried like chicken! And then that answer. If I wasn't gay before, I am now. That was so sexy!" She finished her gushing and hugged me again.

What? The hell? "What answer?"

She looked at me for a moment. "The answer ya gave His Majesty."

"To what question?"

"How ya was electrifying people."

"And what was the answer?"

She was becoming increasingly worried for me but I had to know. "You were just talented like that…" So she can talk normally… "Ya had this big grin on yer face an' looked ready ta eat someone. It was so cool. Yur gunna fit in real well here." So much for proper grammar. As she picked up the previous speech pattern, her voice grew all gushy again. It was creepy, to say the least. And yet I was curious about her.

**/-/-/**

As an honorary wastelander until I get my other amulets, I get a house, a job, and a payment. The system is pretty simple really. When you only have parts of the amulet, then you are considered a newb. That when you get training and everyone wants to meet you. It's rather surprising how friendly these people are. They're not overly so but they aren't selfish either. If you have something they want, they'll ask for and give you something of equal value. But they know when you have nothing. Nothing is free, but they will except a slip of paper that says how much I owe them. Everyone calls it the Fresh Promise.

Another thing that surprised me is the unity in the people. If someone needs help, a bunch of people will come running without a moment's hesitation. It nothing like Haven, it's better.

I remember Krow telling me back when we still lived there, that Spargus was what civilization should look like. The citizens have to prove that they are strong enough to survive, and it gets nasty sometimes. But if you make it, the rewards are great. I have to admit, the fighting is worth it to be here. Krow was right when he said I belong in the desert.

**/-/-/**

"Up there," Vi pointed to a watch tower I don't remember being the game. It had a spiral staircase up it's center and a crown of head. It rose above the wall, but I noticed a ledge that fanned out. "Those towers are what record storms and the like."

She led me up. We were looking for a job for me. It was fun. I got to try the market place, but the merchant who was trying to teach me got fed up with my distracted nature. I kept asking what the items were called. He told me to make names up, as most didn't have any. They were all artifacts found out in the desert. The best I came up was this 'triangle shaped doo-hicky'. Vi thought it was hilarious, Nevin didn't; he just scowled.

We moved on and I tried the turret. The guy, Letem, just yelled at me with his weird accent and started cursing me in some other language when I accidently shot a squid and it rammed the tower. They had to throw flash bombs at it and cause a general ruckus to make it go away. It was also funny, once I was back on the ground…

Next we tried the monks, but Seem simply didn't like me. For that I relieved. I didn't want to wear rubber…

Now we are going to the car port to try out some other stuff. She tried to get me into a vehicle but I am terribly afraid of them. So we are going up to the tower to try and see if I'll make a good watchman.

We climbed up to the ledge, where the stairs broke off, then started again. I looked over the landing and saw what looked like white metal birds. I halted in my step and stared at the closest one, and the rider.

He was standing on top of, holding a lever and pumping it back and forth, trying to, for the life of him, make the machine start. At least that's what I was guessing he was trying to do. He was about my height, which was four foot three, maybe a little taller, really skinny, dark hair that was braided into a million little strings and brushing against his shoulders. He had that sharpest blue eyes I had ever seen on a person.

He noticed me watching him, and looked over. When he realized I was the newb, his face broke into a smile. I nearly choked.

"Hey," he called. I melted.

"Ma name's Zeljeko."

I giggled, couldn't help it. I've heard some really cool names in my time here but that was the top of cake. "Tox."

I could almost feel Vi roll her eyes as she dragged me up the stairs. Once we were out of earshot, she turned to me. "Stop flirting with ma brother."

"Brother? And I wasn't flirting!"

She made a good impression of a giggling school girl. "Tox," she mimicked in a flirty voice.

"I don't sound like that!" Oh crap, I did sound like an idiot!

She must have read my face and laughed. "Tha's okay. I'm sure he didn't notice with the way his eyes were practically molestin' ya."

I glared but felt my face heat up anyway. First encounter with a somewhat cute boy, I lose my cool. Who am I kidding, he was a god! Now to see if his personality is as nice as his face… "Your brother, eh?"

She said nothing as we made it to the top of the tower and looked out into the desert. The view was absolutely amazing. The guy that was already up there smiled as he watched me take everything in. "On a really clear night, you can even see the lights of Haven to the south, and Kras in the north." He pointed to each direction as he spoke, looking prideful in his work.

"That's amazing."

Just then, something shiny in the sky caught my attention and I watched something that had been hiding in the clouds make a dive to the ground then dive back up again. I pointed at it as it disappeared again into the clouds. "What was that?"

For a second, I thought he was going to tell me I was crazy but then he pointed down to the ledge where Zeljeko was still working on the bird machine. "A glider probably."

"What do they do?"

"Look for stuff out in the desert for the car to come pick up."

"That's how you was found." Vi broke in. "Ma big brother."

"Zeljeko," that was really a cool name…

"Yup." Vi suddenly seemed to get an idea. "Ya ain't afraid a heights, are ya?"

I looked at, then to make my point, I sat on the railing that stopped people from falling.

She smiled and then waved me over. We walked down to the platform again, where Zel finally got the glider working. He pushed down the lever and with a gout of blue flames the machine rocketed off the ledge and into the air.

"I want to do that!" I yelled as I watched him soar into the sky and disappear into the clouds.

"I was hoping," Vi said. "We lost a pilot a few weeks ago and have been short ever since. Pilots are hard to come by."

"What happened to them?"

"Stayed too close ta the ground for too long. Number one mistake. Never land in the desert; if the metal head don't get ya, the maries will."

I nodded. "Do I still get to fly one?"

"If what I just said don't scare ya away, then yes."

I grinned. "Let's fly then."

She pulled out a glider for me from a rotating rack that rested in the wall, showed me how to start one, then let me loose.

It was both frightening and so much fun. I had never felt so alive in my entire life. Once we were in the air, she was a pilot too, she taught me how to steer, what clouds to stay away from, and how to spot stuff on the ground. Then she showed me how to land. By the time we were back on ground level, the sun was setting and I was ready to collapse in a bed.

**XXX**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_Darkness  
Darkness  
Darkness_

_Consuming, and sweet. It reached, and touched, and grabs hold. It won't let go, so don't let it hold you, Child. I have made that mistake, and now I pay. Stay away from here, you don't belong._

_The Beast is after you, now. He seeks your soul to join mine in this Darkness. Beware of the Beast._

_Beware  
Beware  
Beware of the Darkness  
Beware of the Beast_

_Do not turn back now, stay in one place, keep forward. Backwards in not open for you. Don't let the door disappear, go through before it closes. Don't make the mistakes I did, don't pay like I have to._

_Beware of the Beast  
Beware of the Darkness  
Beware  
Beware_

**/-/-/**

Then next few weeks passed quickly. I soon earned the rest of amulets without much trouble, and thankfully didn't have the same problem as the first time. I melted into my niche pretty easily, too. I was natural born flyer; both loving it and being really good at it.

Pilots had interesting social lives within the walls. We were like the elite, and were treated as such. It took some getting use to, people coming up to us and asking if they could buy us beers and such of the like. Vi told me that it was because, along with groundling counter parts, we were the ones who brought in the wealth.

We were the ones that spotted the treasures that were stuck in the sand, and brought down the bigger dino-heads. The cars could take them down too, but it took fewer resources to just land on their backs and shoot through the gap in their armor.

As the time passed, I began to wonder when Jak was going to show up. I missed him and Daxter, and wanted to see their reaction to me when they finally saw me again. I hoped they weren't going to be angry.

The answer to my question came to me one day when Vi and I were cleaning up the glider landing. Zel landed the glider on the metal ledge, making the thing shudder a little under the extra weight. The male elf hopped off the machine, a grim expression on his face.

"Whassit?" Asked Vi.

"Flyin' over Haven, takin' a peek at the 'head situation. There was fire ev'rywhere! The palace is gone, a pile o' rubble strewn halfway 'cross the city."

Vi's eyes widened. I had learned from the girl that her and her brother were torn away from their parents after the dead town attack, and taken to the fortress. They tried to put Vi the DWP but they broke out before the Baron did any real damage to her. They went to the wasteland to get away from the Baron and were found by Damas. That was all they told me, but they were real tight lipped about the whole thing. I knew there was more but didn't want to press until they told me themselves.

"Mom and Dad…" Vi whispered.

Zel didn't say anything.

The girl suddenly scowled. "That's fine, they can rot in that cesspool for all I care. They are the ones that left us."

She always blew me away whenever she dropped the slummer accent that she always carried and talked properly. She always made a point of talking without proper grammar, but seemed to slip when stuff got to her. It made me wonder who she was really that made the Baron want to make her dark warrior.

Zel scowled as well. "Vieres, it ain't their fault."

"Yes it is!" She shouted. "They are the ones that told the Baron."

Curiosity killed the cat… "Told the Baron what?"

Vi looked at me like she wanted to bite my head off. "Nothing." She said nothing else as she mounted her glider, started the engine, and took off into the late afternoon sky.

I looked over at Zel. "Well?"

He shook his head, looking worriedly after the girl. "Just a mix up," he replied. He suddenly turned and smiled at me. "She'll be fine, just needs ta blow off some steam."

I frowned at him, silently willing him to tell me, to trust me.

He just shook his head. "She use' ta go ta this… academy." He waved his hands. "Dunno, did somethin' ta her head. Never was the same when I finally got her outta the prison."

Zel didn't say anymore as he moved away from me and down the staircase. More confusing information for confusing people. Oh well, I'll find out more, later. The good news is that Jak will be coming soon.

**/-/-/**

I sighed softly as I looked down at the ground. I could see the cars milling about far below me, a wall of sand coming off from the west. At least I thought it was the west, it was coming down from the setting sun.

Pre-storm winds were mixing up the sand and revealing buried treasure. However, nothing was of interest here, so I moved over the mountain range and into a new are. Something caught my eye as soon as I crested the rocks, laying far below in sand. It was blue., and vaguely human looking.

Suddenly the signal radar in my pocket started shrieking to all the Precursors. Pilots had mini-radars in their pocket in case something was still working but buried beneath the surface. If stuff still worked enough to send off a signal, then it was worth nearly three times as much as the usual finds.

I swept away, looking for the nearest car. I found one only a few miles away from my find, and was surprised to find it was the King's armored buggy. I knew he liked to join the ground scouts every now and then, but never before a storm, it could messy. But yet there he was, shining his mirror at me, no less.

I took a dive toward him, stalling my exhaust as I came in steady, preparing to land. He waved me in as I touched down and pulled up the engine lever. The lever was so the engine could start up again right away, to get away from the ground the fastest possible.

"Found someone," I yelled over the wind and his engine.

"Havenite?" He asked simply, a little bitterness in his tone, but also excitement. "Were they moving?"

"No, not moving. Had a beacon, though. Wasn't sure if it was a Havenite or not, I didn't go down to him." It was too dangerous right now, even stupid of me to be sitting here talking to my king, I had no protection except his guns, and my rifle strapped to my back. Thus being so, I pulled down the lever and with a rushing sound from my engine, I jerked up into the air. "I'll take you," I yelled as the machine shot off, then up on my direction.

I pulled the black scarf around my neck up to my face to protect my mouth from the increasing sand storm. I pushed the machine a little, feeling the air current jostle the wings a little. This was getting too nasty to be out.

The little bug in my ear suddenly went off. A voice came through a moment later. _'All pilots please report back to the city walls. Repeat: all pilots report back to the city walls.'_

That was my cue to hurry back before the wind took me where I didn't want to go. From the corner of my eye, I watched a flare come up through the dense sand clouds, telling me that my king had lost sight of me.

I reached down slowly, trying to keep the machine steady and turned on my flag light as the bottom of the glider, falling back to where the flare had first come up. For a few seconds I didn't see or hear anything but then I heard the retching sound of his machine gun and knew he was below me.

I pushed the glider forward again until I came up on the spot. The sand wasn't as bad over here then on the other side of the rocks, so I was able to see the King wave me off, telling me to go back to the city.

I pulled up and off, confident with whoever had been stuck out here, was saved by the King himself.

**XXX**

**A/N: Hello, and goodbye. Jak will be in the next chapter. I'm happy, tho, because I went back last night and tried to plan this story out a little more. So I decided that, since this story already has the gliders in it, I'm going to tie this with my bigger project. There is a big gap in the story line in TFMS, so I thought I would fill it with this. Nothing really big but it fit together really well.**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

I giggled. I simply couldn't help it. It was Jak, it was really him. He was safe and on Spargus, and fighting for his right to stay in the city. And quite frankly, he was kicking ass!

He kicked one of the men away, the spun in time to shoot one with the scatter gun. He kept distance between himself and his enemies, taking advantage of the open space and the fiery death that await all who took a grave misstep. He kicked another in the chest, sending him flying away into the shallow lava. The crowd screamed louder as the dying man wailed as his body was charred and mangled. Oh, what a barbarically entertaining competition.

I watched from the stand myself, with Vi beside me. She was cheering and screaming as loud as the rest of them. She always got excited about the new people. Couldn't really blame her when you're her age and single. Every new guy is an opportunity.

Nearing the end of the fight, but before Jak went dark, Zel popped in next to us, whispering into my ear so he didn't have to yell. "Problem in the Waste, big sucker attackin' a mine off to the east. We need a few more of our pilots."

I nodded and tugged at Vi's arm. Looking at me, then her brother, she nodded. We left as the crowd screamed the loudest it had and I knew the fight was practically over. But we were already gone from the arena by then.

**/-/-/**

Zel wasn't kidding when he said they were big, for big was an understatement. I've seen some of the dinos and am somewhat good at taking them down. But this guy was massive! He looked like a part of the mountain at first but then he opened his eyes.

The mine below him was crushed, and eco was leaking from the indent in the wall, staining the sand red. I knew some of it must have been from some of the workers, but I didn't really want to think about that. We circled the thing, humanoid in shape and redish-brown. It looked like a walking rock and could be mistaken for a mountain.

It swatted at us with a massive stone hand and swung it's egg shaped head around and around. We flew around, delivering our payload, sticker bomb strapped to bottoms of our glider, upon it's shoulders. We went around like this for at least an hour, and finally, one of our bombs blew off it's shoulder.

Eco and what appeared to be smaller metal heads fell from the gaping wound as the thing screeched and swung it's remaining arm around. It seemed to waver on it's massive feet, then the whole thing collapsed. In a wave of dark eco and metal head, the rocks crumbled and revealed it was really a million metal heads, all linked claws and the like. They were mostly scorpions, like the ones you find in Haven, except a whole lot bigger. There wasn't any stillness on the ground. As soon the scorpions hit the sand, they were all flurried to dig themselves holes and get away.

Everyone was in such awe at the whole display that we didn't even get a chance to reload and drop more bombs on them, aside from the people that still had some, and so only a couple hundred dead bugs littered the dunes. The eco had congealed in pools and stained the sand.

Black flags started waving from the lad station on the ground, telling us not to land and go back to the city. "Lets call it a day, people," I heard through the headset that pilots all wore.

It was funny about those headsets. They only worked if you were on the same plain. So we could get transmissions from Central Tower (CT) and other pilots, but not from people in cars or on the ground transports or loading stations. Only long range equipment but it was too high tech and the sand ate at a lot of it. So only Haven and the Temple complex had long range antennas.

Back on the ground inside the city, we were greeted by the ground crew, and in light that no one was hurt and we got rid of the current threat, we all went to the local pub for some drink.

**/-/-/**

I laughed as Vi danced around, singing some old song she learned in school. It was a rather happy tune but I had no idea what she was saying or what language it was in. It was nice listening to her, though, so I didn't ask.

Drinking night is always a blast, though I'm not the one that usually get's smashed. Vi does, and Zel on occasion. Everyone else seems to like the buzz but not the taste. Most of my fellow flyers young, being small enough to fit on the gliders, and most of them can't hold their liquor for shit.

It's funny, watching them all dance and sing, with in the lead and everyone trying to follow clumsily along. Vi was a good dancer, they way she perched herself on the outcrops and kept her grace and balance, even as drunk as she was.

Zel came up behind me and lifted me sheer off the ground. Zel was the biggest of us, being almost six feet, but he was skinny, so that made up for it. He lifted my minimal weight up onto his shoulder, slurring that heroes shouldn't be allowed to walk or all the heroism will leek into the rocks, and rock don't make good heroes. His rambling made me laugh harder, and as several people started chanting 'bumbles' and 'bubbles' over and over, I was snorting in laughter and glad I have to walk.

Okay, so maybe I was a little drunk, but it's all good!

"Whesh the sun comes up," Vi had stopped her dancing to look at the sky. "I'ma gunna be sheeping dem sheep over the horizon." She snorted and broke into half hysterical laugher.

"Sheep dem sheep!" Someone yelled.

"Alright, alright." I wiggled on Zel's shoulders, trying to get off. "I'ma gunna sheep dem sheep now." Zel let me down with a soft grunt, but then he hugged me. I squeaked in his embrace, both because he was squeezing me and, well, Zel was hugging me. And he was drunk, and I was drunk, and… stuff like that…

I tried to break away from our flyer group, but it was really a futile attempt. We all felt high and mighty and we were just having too much fun. So went around some more, bypassing the apartment and of into the streets.

I heard my name and looked over to a leaper port near the market. Familiar blonde with green roots, sticking straight up, and an orange rodent on his shoulder. "Jak!" I called, waving. I knew I was drunk, but clear enough to at least say 'hi'. Zel noticed I had stopped and stumbled back for me, slinging his arm across my shoulders. I giggled as Vi started singing in the Arian voice of hers and Zel steered me back to the little group.

"Tox?" I looked back at the blonde, who looked torn between coming and joining our little group or being repelled by the ruckus flyers.

I waved my finger at him, feeling bold. "Come on, Handsome. Get that sweet ass over here!"

I bust up laughing as his expression changed from revulsion to looking completely blown out of the water. I could here Daxter snorting with laughter, but didn't see him until he was climbing up Zel's body armor.

"Hey sugar, where the stuff?"

Neeken, who had the biggest liquor bottle there, waved the half empty container so the liquid inside sloshed around. "Here ya go, little dude." Neek slurred. "Jus save some fer the rest of us."

I seemed to have lost Jak by that time, and I decided that I've really had too much to drink…

Oh, well. The more the merrier!

**XXX**

**A/N: That was a lame Jak appearance, but he'll have a better interaction with Tox later. Leave a note.**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

_Don't you want to see?  
Don't you want peace?  
Come to me,  
allow my embrace.  
I only want to hold you close,  
so you don't leave,  
so you will always be safe,  
in the arms of my sweet escape.  
I offer you Sanctuary from a place that only wants to hurt you.  
I offer you so much.  
Why don't you except?  
Can't you see?  
I am your friend.  
I am your only friend.  
They all want to hurt you,  
use you,  
throw you away.  
They won't help you.  
Only I will help you,  
come to me.  
Let me hold you close,  
let me keep you safe from all others.  
Let me,  
let me,  
Let me hold your soul._

**/-/-/**

If there is one thing I hate about drinking night, is the next morning. The hangover is always killer, and wastelanders don't get hangover days. My body wasn't going to let me sleep anymore, that was for sure. Regardless of the pounding headache, I knew I had to get up.

A soft weight on my chest was enough excuse, however to just lay there and suffer in my agony. Besides, my will was taking a rain check, and I don't think I could drag myself out of this house if it was on fire. Okay, maybe not on fire, but something like that.

I glanced up, the motion more painful than it should have been, and found something warm, orange and fuzzy nestled right in my cleavage. I thought for a moment, trying to remember how exactly Daxter came to be on my chest, or where he had come from in the first place.

The horror of the moment suddenly struck me, and I almost screamed. Jak's first encounter with me in a year and I was drunker than that snake in Robin Hood. Oh dear God, help me now. If he wasn't going to kill me before, he was now. I was going to be extra dead, pulverized dead, smashed with a bulldozer, the torched by the fire-breather.

There was loud knocking on my door a moment later that drove me upward, regardless of the pain in my head. Daxter squawked indignantly as he was thrown off my chest and onto my legs, where he was thrown in my frenzy, to the floor. There was a window in the living room that lead out to the ocean. I needed a nice swim this morning. A person at the door? I don't what you're talking about.

Jak must have sensed my urge to flee as he kicked down my door like it was a piece of paper, not a sheet of metal bolted to the wall. I froze in my mad dash for the window and just stared at him as he came at me.

"Jak! How nice it is to see you, when did you get here? It's nice to see you in Spargus. Where have you been? How have you been?"

"I'd love to ask you the same question," he snapped. Oh yeah, he was pissed.

"Oh, you know. I've been fine."

"Tox," he warned. "Where the hell have you been?"

"No profanity in the house, dear." Jeez, I could be little shit…

"Tox!"

"No yelling either." –Giggle-

That seemed to be the last straw for him as he moved forward and grabbed at the cloth of my shirt, taking a good chunk of my bra with it, and pulling closer.

"My goodness, Jak. I knew you liked me but not like that. Naughty, naughty. I prefer someone more gentle anyway."

Jak growled, something very scary this close to him. "Where. Have. You. Been?"

Oh yes, very scary, indeed. "Oh, you know. Here and there, hither and thither, and yet over yonder." I pointed down at where his hand was grabbing my shirt. "Now, dearest," I put on my sweetest 'wife' voice I could muster. "If you keep holding me like that, you're going to stretch my shirt. That would make me very mad. I'll make you have to waste the money to buy me a new one."

He let go with an exasperated sigh, one he used when he deemed me a lost cause. I almost danced in my victory, when he caught sight of my hands. The fingers had that charred quality they got whenever I woke up after a weird dream. I don't know the purpose, but it was a consistency.

"What is that?" The question was innocent enough, but the tone was offending. I needed an out anyway…

"What?" I accused. "You think I can't take care of myself? You think I'm helpless? Is it 'cause I'm a girl?" I gasped, but inside I was cracking up. He looked so frightened by my sudden fury. "You are sexist!" I announced it like I was announcing the end of the world, and Daxter, who was watching from the relative safety of the coach, bust up laughing.

"Jak!" He snorted between peels of laughter. "I haven't seen you this scared since Keira accused you of steeling her zoomer!"

"And a zoomer thief!" I had crossed my arms and was making a point of glaring ridiculously at him. "Jak, I am truly appalled."

The eco warrior, finally found the humor and grinned darkly. "Tox, I'm going to really jack you up one of these times."

I raised my eyebrow at him, but he didn't seem to know what at. I looked over at Daxter, who looked like he was trying to fight an inner explosion. He failed and him wails of laughter, joined with mine, echoed through the small apartment.

"What?" Jak asked innocently.

"'Jack me up'?" I was bent nearly double, holding my aching gut as realization and a stupid grin spread across his face. I hadn't seen him smile like before, and that more than anything, made me feel good about this meeting.

"Come on, Blondie. Let's go get some breakfast, and I'll fill you in the details."

He looked at funny for a minute. "Really? No funny business? Just straight answers?"

"Straighter than a homophobe."

**XXX**

**A/N: Can't you tell Tox has fun with Jak? Only with Jak does she get witty for some reason. It's beyond me as well. Leave me a note.**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"I'm not so scared to tell you now, it's not such a touchy subject." He was getting annoyed with my delaying. Here we sat under the shade of an awning, with the ocean to out backs and breakfast in front of us. "Still, you have to promise that you will at least try to believe that what I am about to tell you is true." I paused for dramatic effect, but still couldn't quite bring myself to make the admission. "Because it is true. I don't have any proof, but I do know that it is true."

"Tox," he said loudly. "Just say it."

"Alright, alright." I sighed and took another bite of my fruit salad, chewing slowly to give myself a little more time to think. "I am an inter-dimensional traveler."

There was silence after my admission. Jak just sat there for a moment. He had stopped eating but wasn't looking at me. There was long time, and I felt the heavy weight of regret settle onto my shoulders. He didn't believe me. He thought I was lying to him, or crazy, anything but the truth.

I wasn't delusional, everything made sense. No random occurrences that I couldn't explain. So he was _wrong_ in thinking I was insane.

Jak shook his head a little smile on his face. Anger, and extreme sadness made me shake where I sat. I shouldn't have told him. How stupid do I get?

"I'm a time traveler, so I guess I shouldn't be past believing in that, either."

How dare he think- wait, what? "You believe me?"

He looked at me, a little smile on his face. "Yeah, I believe you. We're both a little messed up, so I don't see how it's not possible. Like you said, you are a living light socket, and I'm a mutation with a nasty bite."

Whoa! Jak is a lot more laid back then I remember. He used hate talking about his Dark, and just threw it into a conversation like that. It made me almost sadder to see him different like this. The fact that I couldn't be there as he got better made me almost sick with regret.

"I'm sorry, Jak." I had lost my appetite and pushed the half-empty bowl away.

"For what?"

How he forgive me like this? The old Jak would have had my ass for not sticking to his. "For leaving you at the nest."

"Did you go home?"

I sat there for a long time, staring down at the graining on the bar. "Yes and no." I finally answered. I wanted to make him understand but wasn't sure how. I suppose I could tell him straight and answer his questions. But I didn't him to know just how selfish I was.

"I went back to my world, just in time to find out that Precursora is my real home." That was surprisingly easy…

"So you came back?"

"Yeah. It wasn't easy, I'll tell you that much. All my world really show me was how much I hated it, and how much I belong here."

"And your finger?" He reached over and grabbed my hand, sending jolts of metaphorical electricity up my arms. "What happened here?"

I pulled my hand away. I didn't like the feeling his touch was giving me. I examined the black fingers. "Don't worry," I assured him. "They don't hurt. I don't how I got that, to be honest with you. They just sorta were there when I woke up."

"You mean this morning? This is a new development? Doesn't this place have a doctor or healer or something?"

"No, I mean when I first woke up in this world. They were just there. I think the portal just messed me up a bit. My hair did some pretty weird stuff, too. Like changing color a little and becoming not frizzy."

Jak smirked. "You have frizzy hair?"

"I do when I'm on Earth."

"Earth? Is that what you call it? Maybe I could go there someday."

…_He doesn't believe you…_

My headache suddenly exploded behind my eyes again. "You don't believe me."

"No," he looked purely defensive.

_…He doesn't like you…_

I scoffed. "I can't believe this." I got up, preparing to storm off. "I bet you don't even like me. Just humoring me for the sake of some good laughs?" I spat at him, seeing his glare melt away to be replaced by something else.

"Tox,"

_…He doesn't even know your name… Not like I do…_

"You don't even know my name. You hardly know me at all. What do want from me?"

"You are not making any sense."

_…He's laughing at you… I would never laugh at you…_

"Stop laughing!"

"I'm not laughing!"

_…You don't want his love, only my love… Only I understand…_

"You don't get it, only he understands."

"Who's he?"

_…He doesn't deserve to know… He will only call you crazy… He thinks you are crazy…_

"Never mind," I left him where he sat. I couldn't stand his mockery anymore. How dare he laugh at me, how dare he tell me he hated me. What the hell was wrong with him?

**/-/-/**

_ Screams filled the blackness around the monolith that moved and growled. __**"He doesn't love you."**_

_ "That's not true!" Two voices disjointed but very distance. One was whispers and shadows, hisses and growls. The other was young, sad, and so very _human_ sounding._

_**"He never loved you."**_

_ "That's not true."_

_**"He has forgotten about you. That is all you are, just a forgotten memory."**_

_ "No, no, no! Shut up! Go away!"_

_ Laughter echoed through the darkness, and illumination became clear around the figure of a young woman. Her dark hair was dirty and tangled, but had once been beautiful. Her clothing, which had once been that of a wastelander, were torn and sheered. Her face; once smooth, tan, and beautiful, was pale and cracked. Her lips bled and her eyes shed tears that never truly came into existence. It was obvious she was dying, the cracks and tears in skin could tell any sentient being this._

_ Her pale face turned, eyes that where supposed to be blue, stained silver white, searched the darkness. "Leave child, before the door disappears."_

"What door?"

_ A gasp and a sob. "No, not another." She gasped and shuddered, broken sobs from a body that far too weak. "Find the door, don't give up yet."_

_**Find the door. Quickly now. We wouldn't want this child do die, now do we.**_

**XXX**

**A/N: Not giving anything away…**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The little sand-shark on the ground was parked in a peculiar place among the dunes. I flew over, trying to get his attention and see if they needed help or an escort. I wish I could've seen who the driver was but he seemed determined to make sure I stayed oblivious, or just simply didn't notice me at all.

After a few circles around his position, I decided he wasn't a big worry, other wise he would have taken me into account by then. I began my accent back up into the clouds, giving him one last glance.

He waving me down with a rag, probably his scarf or something. I seriously couldn't be bothered to help after wasting my time, but a fellow wastelander in danger was still a priority. It must have been something important because the simple act of waving at me told me he needed to have communication.

I brought my glider down steady and sat her down on the sand, finally getting a good look at the stranded groundsman. Jak, of course, had to choose the worst places to talk to me. I almost took off again without giving him a chance to really talk to me, but the simply fact that he could be in serious trouble made me stay. Didn't he know it was dangerous for me to be on the ground? Especially since we discover that the sand scorpions have a taste for unprotected pilots.

"What do you want?" I growled. I shouldn't have landed. If I had known it was him, I wouldn't have landed.

"Tox, we need to talk."

I crossed my arms. I really didn't want to talk to him, right now. More so after that tantrum he threw the other day. I can't believe he laughed at me and called me crazy.

"Alright, talk."

He glared, and I noticed Daxter was not on his shoulder, or even in the car. That was an interesting occurrence. Daxter was never without Jak and vise-versa, was he really serious about this talk he wanted that Daxter couldn't even come?

"Tox, will you please calm down and stop treating me like I jammed a hot pipe up your ass?"

Oh-ho. So Jak did have a sense of humor after all. Who would've guessed? Sharp, witty remarks were my ground, he just went and along and laughed when appropriate. I could almost say with pride I had taught him something, if I still wasn't so mad at him.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to at least look like I was trying to calm myself for him. If he wanted to apologize, I wanted him to believe I would accept it; otherwise he would back out at the last minute and just follow up with Jak-glares.

It was surprisingly wonderful to clear my mind for a moment, while Jak waited patiently. When I felt calm enough to have him continue, I opened my eyes and found my surrounding were actually sharper than they were a moment ago. Everything seemed clearer, I felt clearer, I felt like myself, as apposed to what I felt like before.

I resisted the urge to smile at him as I asked him to continue. He saw the look in my eyes anyway, which wasn't surprising, and relaxed a little himself. What? Was he expecting me to attack him? I shook away as he began to talk.

"You freaked out the other day," he said softly, like trying to break hard news on a child. "On nothing. I'm sorry if I said something to offend you," he said the word 'sorry' as if he didn't believe it. I felt like it should have made me angry, but I knew I should be the apologizing at this time. He was right, I freaked.

"Sorry, Jak," I replied, making him look at me with surprise. I was deflated now, far too tired all of a sudden. I smiled tiredly at him, too drained to really give him an explanation.

At my friendly attitude, he seemed to relax all the way. He smiled a his own little Jak-smile and moved forward. We agreed a long time ago, that physical contact was to avoid. Neither of us like it, to be honest, but this time, as he offered me a hug, it seemed almost natural. I knew he would be different, better without so much darkness hurting him, but not this different. Again I was pained with a sudden sadness, and I gladly accepted his embrace.

He was soft, and warm, and smelled of leather, dirt, and eco. It should have been a bad smell, but it was just Jak. Just Jak, and he was my best friend. Like a brother; no, better than a brother. I don't know what but he was just Jak.

He stiffened all of sudden, all his muscles going taunt to hold me a little tighter. Then I was being pushed away, where I spun and saw the large animal coming at up under the sand. Moving in a trail of up-ended sand, kind of like those giant worm horror movies, except it was obvious this thing was more than a string of flesh.

Jak drew his blaster and began firing away at the moving mound. It came straight at him, but at the last minute, it veered toward me. I didn't have time to react, or run, or even scream as a giant scorpion burst from the sand, grabbed me it's claw, swung me like a rag doll until I was too dizzy to tell up from down. The last thing I remember was being slammed into the sand with enough force that gravity must have had help.

**/-/-/**

Everything ached. More than it should have. I could feel my thoughts were disjointed, I couldn't think right, straight, clearly. The clarity that I had while talking to Jak was gone, all of it was just a fog now. I tried to open my eyes but found I couldn't. I couldn't move at all actually. I shouldn't even try. And so I lay there, and keep think how much I want to get under the blankets, because I'm shivering in the cold.

My brain told me it was only seventy degrees in reality, but my body felt as if I was in a snow day with a broken heater. It wasn't ice cold but it was enough to make me shiver, and each shiver, each spasm of muscle at all sent tendrils of pain through my entire body.

Broken. That was how I felt. I felt broken. It was weird, because in my mind's eyes my entire body was out of proportion, and I couldn't feel parts of different limbs. I knew it was probably a fever dream that told me I was white and broken and disproportionate, but I wasn't asleep. I felt awake enough.

But yet I didn't, because I felt so foggy and… and… I drew blank after blank. I guess that was all my brain could really handle. At least right now. I was just so tired. Where was I, anyway? Certainly not Spargus. Spargus wasn't seventy degrees anytime, day or night. It was either in the hundreds, or below the fifties. Usually never in between.

I felt thirsty, and hungry, but the thought of both made me dizzy with pain. Not because I knew I needed them, but because I knew how much work it would require to down these things. In my honest opinion, it was just simply too much.

All I wanted to do was sleep, or cry. I also wanted to scream, but again, screaming would take too much work. I would prefer to just sit here and think and allow tears to run down the sides of my face. I felt weak.

I shouldn't cry. I was just feeling sorry again. There goes me and selfishness, walking down the street, holding hands. I also shouldn't cry because tough Wastelander, no matter their genders, never cry in the face of pain and self-pity.

I had to keep reminding myself… This thought bugged me, because I knew I should be panicked about this, but I was just too tired to be panicked. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't in Spargus anymore.

**XXX**

_**Broken Wolf/ D.R.M.**_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Slow and sluggish, and painful. Very painful. Everything hurt, so much I couldn't think. Backwards thought and sentences that had words but no meaning, no order. No order, order none, _nonte nonte nonte._ Nothing nothing nothing…

The world was dark and cold, but I was wet. I was too hot, but too cold. Painfully cold, but still too hot. I shivered, and it was painful. The darkness enclosed me, there was no peace.

_Vesh, mon klien, komet le moch_

**Death, in cruelty, leaves this place.**

Strange words that echoed up from places unknown. They had no meaning, but yet they continued to speak, and I continued to understand them.

_Cumet! Cumet koch! Etchi verloet, etchi verloet._

**Run! Run away! He will kill you, he will kill you**.

Who will kill me?

_**Verket.**_

The sudden wave of clarity that washed over me was both painful and refreshing. Painful, because I felt as if I had gotten into a battle with something or someone. Refreshing, because I had won whatever battle I had been fighting.

My mind was clear. Clear enough for me to try and think rationally for at least a moment. Everything hurts, but one at a time, I check that I have all my limbs. Everything seems in tact, and I sigh when I don't have to keep moving. I relax into the bed more, but then I tense up.

Bed? Not a cot. Most Spargans sleep on cots or the floor. We don't have the luxury of plush beds. So why the hell am I sitting on one. I have yet to open my eyes, but now I simply afraid to. I know what I will find. I knew I wasn't in Spargus anymore. I knew that when I was still in the layers of the fever dream.

I open them slowly, feeling a pain of different kind well up in my chest as I take in my room on Earth. On Earth, Earth Earth. I had to repeat that a few times before it sank in and when it did, I sobbed. I couldn't help it. I tried to hold it back, tried to tell myself to calm down. But the horror of it was making me dizzy, my skin prickled, my mind reel. I didn't want to be here, I didn't belong here, so why was I here?

It wasn't fair. I should be back in Spargus. I wish I could have apologized to Jak. For what?

The thought spun around and slapped me in the face so hard it stopped all other thought processes. Why did I have to apologize to Jak?

Because you freaked out on him.

But why did I freak?

Because someone told you to. Someone was talking to you.

Yes, talking to myself like this helped me think. So the question became who was talking to me.

What had that girl said? The voice that spoke in the strange language. Ver… Ver… Ver-something. What had that meant? Verket? Yes, that was it. Verket. What did Verket mean? I knew everything else that she had spoken, so why not this word?

All other thought process was halted when I heard my door open. I tried to look at the intruder, but my eyes had fallen shut somewhere in the internal rant, and I seemed incapable on opening them again.

I heard the person shuffle in quietly, and instantly knew it was Haley.

"Haley," I growled, rasping at the effort it took to talk. I heard the girl start, and she sudden moved very quickly across the dark room to fling herself across me in an embrace made awkward by the bed beneath me. However this did not stop her from clinging to my shoulders as if I was her life line. "Haley?" I rasped again.

She sudden sprang up and away and I envied her for having that much energy. She then ran out of the room, leaving the door open behind her. I could tell only because the light from the hallway slanted across my closed eyes.

By the time she returned, carrying a glass fill with ice water, I had managed to open my eyes and sit up. She handed me the glass, and I took it gratefully, gulping down it's contents quickly.

I finished and set the glass down on the bedside table. It was then that Haley chose to speak up. "Where have you been?" It was both a stern question, but held a hint of gentleness, and hesitation; as if she knew she had the power to be superior over me, but wasn't sure if she should exert it.

"Places," I answered vaguely.

Haley scowled at me. "Where?" She seemed to be gaining in confidence.

I looked over at her, sighing. "It doesn't matter. How long have I been gone?"

"A week and a half."

I sat for a moment, thinking of the time displacement for a moment. I finally came to the conclusion that I had actually only missed two days of school before vacation started. I could help but think of how convenient that was. Supposedly, spring break ended at the end of this week, which meant that I had three days to get back before mom and dad began getting annoyed.

Speaking of my parents… "Where are mom and dad?"

"Mom's at work, as she always is," I flinched at how bitter her words were. "And Dad is drunk, as he always is."

I smiled. In other words, unless she blatantly told them right out, they probably thought I was at someone's house or something. "Do they know I have been gone?"

She shook her head. "You owe me." The way she said it made me know she wasn't serious. I smiled at her, and she smiled back. Sometimes, I had to admit to myself that my sister was kind of okay. _Kind of!_

"Where have you been?" She asked again, obviously worried for me. "You look like shit."

"Language!" I chided. She only rolled her eyes. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "Really now?"

"Yes."

"Tosca."

My name, my real name… It sent shivers down my spine, and not the good ones. It really set into my mind that I wasn't in Precursora anymore. I was back on Earth, I wasn't home. I looked down at my knees, noting briefly that I was wearing the same jeans I had been when I went through the portal, expect they looked worn, torn, burned, and… Was that blood? I almost examined them but had to remind myself I was not alone. I could feel the anxiety creeping into me, swallowing me. I felt myself starting to tremble, and clenched my fist in hopes to stop it. There was only one real though going through my mind at that moment. It chilled me how familiar this lost feeling was as it drilled holes in my chest, leaving emptiness. An emptiness I couldn't begin to explain, let alone fill.

How will I get home?

**XXX**

**A/N: I had to redo this entire chapter because I lost the original copy in South Carolina. I miss California…**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"You look like shit," Microbe stated blandly.

"Thank you, captain obvious."

He rolled hit eyes. "Seriously, what happened to you?"

"I got tossed around by a giant scorpion. My fault, really." I must have said it a little too flippantly, because he didn't look convinced.

"A giant scorpion?"

"Yes. It obviously didn't go over well."

"Apparently."

I shook my head but opened my arms for his embrace, smiling as he wrapped his arms around the small of my back. "It's still go to see you," he said into my hair.

I almost giggled. All things considered, he could be pretty romantic. "I wish I could say that it was good to be back."

He pulled away to look at me. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

He opened his mouth to say something but decided halfway that he had forgotten. Instead he just shook his head. "You want to go back?"

I felt almost bad, he sounded so dejected. I nodded nonetheless.

"Alright, but I need some time."

"For what?"

"I need to retrieve it."

I looked up at him suspiciously. "From where?"

"I work for some very important people." Microbe was one of those loser kids that boasted that he worked for the government. I knew he was smart to, but nobody ever believed him. I wasn't going to start now, but I would play along for his sake. If he got me the portal, then by all means, he could believe anything he wanted.

"I gave them the portal, because they monitor everything I do, everything I make." He paused, as if he wasn't sure how to continue. "I had no choice."

I waited for a moment, a little angered by the guilt on his face. I kept myself neutral however, not letting my emotions slip past. "Okay," I answered. I turned and went back inside my house, leaving him standing at the top of the drive.

"Tosca, wait!"

I turned, flinching when I heard my real name. It never lost it's shattering effect on me. "What," I snapped.

"Why did you return?"

I paused. He just the very question that had been plaguing since I woke up. "I don't know." I had to squint to look up at him, standing at the top of the slope, the sun behind him.

"Don't you think we should try to figure it out before you just go right back in?"

I just stared at him. He had a point but the thought of staying in this world any longer than I had to was painful. "I'll figure it out on the other side," I lied. But maybe it wasn't a lie.

He wasn't satisfied but he didn't press me any further. He turned and disappeared onto the street, over the slope.

**/-/-/**

I groaned, feeling worse than I had when I took my jump through, but more like myself. I heard shuffling all around me, but it was all so jumbled, I couldn't tell where it was all coming from. I could hear voices but they all sounded slow and underwater. I tried to focus on them but it was just so hard.

One thing, one voice kept coming through. It was the clearest, the loudest, the most familiar. My mind latched onto it, trying to discern that from all the rest.

"Tox, can you hear me?"

I tried to reach out, to grab him, so that he could anchor me in. "Jak," I tried to call out, but I don't think his name ever reached my lips.

I hear my name. Both names, my real, and my true name. It's all jumbled, garbled, unclear, chaotic. I was afraid, confused. My mind was flooded, and I was drowning.

I could feel myself sinking down into darkness, and so desperately clawing to the surface. It enveloped me, and I was falling so far, sinking so deep. I knew that no matter how much I struggled, I would never reach the surface, I would never breath again.

**/-/-/**

Jak didn't wait for gaits to open before he vaulted through the opening, carrying the limp body in his arms. The hospital attendants rushed him, lifting the body out of his arms and fetching a gurney at the same time.

There was desperate questions thrown at him, Jak couldn't keep up with half of them, trying too desperately to keep track of the limp form on the gurney, bleeding and broken, and dying.

"Is she going to be alright?" He demanded. There was no answer, the gurney had gone out of sight. There was only questions, endless questions. He demanded again, but it rewarded him no better of an answer then the first time.

They ushered him into another room, where he was told to stay put. Jak hated waiting. He had always hated waiting. And where was Daxter? Daxter was always there to defuse a tense moment, but he wasn't anywhere in sight. He wanted to get up and move around, find Daxter, make sure Tox would live, anything but sit here in the confined space, just waiting for something to happen.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a hospital nurse finally came into the small waiting room, and told him that Tox had been stabilized. She was in an a coma, three broken ribs, a shattered clavicle, severe bleeding, and a dozen or so hairline fractures. She was in bad shape, and they had almost lost her, but they thought that she might survive.

Jak moved quickly into the room they indicated, where he found Tox, bandages and only kept alive by a small army of machines. They all beeped and clicked to a certain rhythm. He pulled up a chair by her side, and settled in for a longer wait then before, but this wait for more easily occupied.

Daxter joined him not long after he had started his watch, strangely somber. Jak was disappointed but understood why the ottsel remain quiet. This was his friend lying in the bed, and no one knew if she would survive.

The second, Jak was forced to leave the infirmary, to attend to missions the king had assigned him, but every evening and morning for eight days he came and visited and her condition never changed. Her face never changed from that empty, expressionless. Jak knew she wasn't there anymore, but he could only wonder where she had gone off to.

On the evening of the ninth day, while Jak and Daxter were getting ready to leave for their apartment in the west side of the city, Tox suddenly groaned. Jak was at her side in a second, asking her question. Was she alright? Could she hear him? Did she need a nurse. Regardless to if she needed one or not, several suddenly came in, having been alerted by all their fancy machinery.

They all ran about the room, shoving him aside, working with the machinery. The elf had no idea what was happening, and Daxter was becoming annoyed by their lack of attention.

Someone had tried to push them out of the room at one point. Jak was about to protest heavily, when he realized he didn't have to.

"That is our friend in there, and if I know anything, she would like to wake to two friendly faces, not a hundred she didn't know!" Daxter yelled over the general commotion. "So move, or you'll be forced out of the way." The ottsel, who the man had never in his life would have expected to even talk, let alone give him orders; jabbed his thumb in the general direction of the door.

The man seemed to make good on Daxter's advice, and as soon as all the nurses were done in the small room, they all filed to the door. Jak moved in, swooping around to her side, where he asked again if she could here him, if was still in there.

She lifted her hand up, searching for his face, trying to say his name. Only a whine came from her dry lips, but she found Jak's hand, and she held onto it like it was her anchor. She eventually fell back into unconsciousness, but this time, Jak knew she would make it. He had faith that she would be string enough.

**XXX**

**A/N: That was actually a fun chapter to write. Sorry about the time skip, I hope you picked up on that kind of okay. I'm also sorry about the horrid long wait. School has started again, and writing falls to second loved, once again.**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

It was all a bit strange at first. Everything felt fine, I was alright. I woke up to Jak hanging over me, looking uncharacteristically worried. It was both the weirdest, and the best feeling I had ever had. Weird because Jak looked honestly concerned, and the greatest because it was _Jak._

I sat up on the bed, making him back off, but found a second later, that I had ottsel latched to my chest.

"You're back," Jak smirked.

I looked up at him innocently. "Where did I go?"

"That's a pretty good question."

"How long?" I glanced down at my hands finding the discoloration had spread up to my elbow.

"Eight days." He saw what I was looking at and answered the question I never actually asked. "That had been growing since that scorpion got a hold of you. The doctors thought it blood loss, but now they think it's some type of eco poisoning."

I glanced up at him, finding that familiar 'explain or I'll make you' look on his face. I shrugged in silent reply. "I don't know Jak, I've had this since I came home." I shrug again. "It's not that big of a deal, really."

_/-/-/_

The next month flew by in a flurry of missions and fights. The daystar had arrived and everything was really going to shit. But I did what I could, while I watched Jak fight with himself over whether he wanted to save a world that had betrayed him or not.

I stood on the sidelines as Jak worked to save the world. He never asked for my help, and I never offered to join him. Since our reunion in the hospital, our meetings have bee few and far between.

It's alright though. I have Vi and Zel.

As for the Verket. I've still had those dreams, and my arms remain black. But I'm not worried. If it kills me, then so be it. I don't really plan to get old in this world. In all reality, who does?

**/-/-/**

I followed Jak as he hopped from the car, using the frame to swing himself onto the sand. The temple rose up above us, the giant, decaying arches with the burning pots loomed in front of us. I had never been personally in the temple, but Jak had been twice.

"You don't really have to do this."

Jak glanced back at me. "The poison is spreading, Tox." He stated it so matter-o-factly, it almost frightened me.

"It doesn't matter." Of course it mattered. My arms were completely black, my shoulders looked like that had some twisted tattoo on them, and the discoloration was spreading to my neck. On the tips of my fingers, and spreading to my palms now, was what seemed to be letters of some sort. I've never actually seen them before, and had no idea what they said. I didn't tell Jak or Daxter, I hadn't told anyone. I kept them hidden under gloves and thick sleeves.

Jak got this brilliant idea a few day prior to our expedition. He had been dying of eco poisoning himself, before the light eco from the temple had been unlocked to him. He had been healed. He had also been changed.

I was glad to have a happy Jak. And he was happy. Happy, mischievous, painless. Daxter was happy, because Jak seemed to be thriving again, as where before, he was slowly dying. But the one thing I missed the most was the selfish Jak that could understand being called a freak. That understood hiding, and didn't get mad me when I did, only nodded in understanding and moved on. He knew back them, what hiding was, and he allowed me to get away with it, because he was just as bad.

But the light eco changed that about him. He didn't hide as much, because he had less to hide. So when I still did, he didn't like that. He gets mad at me a lot. He doesn't realize that he's changed, and I just don't know how to keep up.

We moved through the temple complex, and I could help but be blown away with how utterly beautiful the whole thing was. There was some thing in the game you just don't see, or just don't' pay attention to. You don't pay attention to the light eco infused water that glows, or the statues and murals all over the place, or the beautiful architecture.

We walked for a long time, and didn't meet any puzzles or enemies. He must have cleared this place out already. Jak and I didn't say anything but Daxter was happily yapping on and on about on thing or another. He was strangely on my shoulder rather than his usual perch, but I think it was because I don't hang out with them very much.

It was alright though, I enjoy Daxter's stories.

We finally came to a circular room, a small vent where light eco flowed out of like some holy fountain. Jak walked right up to without hesitation, but something in me hissed and the urge to run was almost overwhelming. I took a step back as the light substance became almost liquid like when it brushed across Jak's skin.

He looked up at me, a smile on his lips. That smile quickly faded, he tensed, risin slowly from his crouch. His hands went to his morph gun as he glared at me. Something in me screamed to run away. Jak was going to attack me, that eco wasn't good, I had to get away.

"Tox," Jak said slowly, questioningly. "Tox, I need you to come this way, come toward me."

_Don't child, he only wants to hurt you. Look at him, he's going to kill you._

"Don't listen to it Tox, it's just telling lies."

_He thinks you are insane. He hates you. He used you._

"Tox."

_He tells you lies, he only wants to hurt you. _

"Get away from her!" The roar came from both behind, and in from Jak. He lunged forward, and realized a little belatedly that the creature from my nightmares happened to be behind me.

It really all happened so suddenly it hurt. I didn't know what was going on. I heard shouts and yells. Some weird popping noise. Then I was thrown halfway across the room.

The last thing I truly remember was a blinding light, and so much pain. There was a scream, and I wasn't sure if it was me or something else, something inhuman. The sound was both satisfying, and sad. It was lonely, defeated, scared. I wanted to reach out to it but it was already gone.

Then there was Jak. No Daxter, however. It made me wonder briefly. I could hear Jak yelling my name, but I couldn't bring myself to respond.

_**/-/-/**_

_Jak?_

Who are you?

_You…you don't remember…_

I'm sorry. Who are you?

_**A smile, so sad, so heart broken. The words were so heart shattering, so devastating. The Verket was gone, but it was still too late. **__I don't remember, either…_

**XXX**

**A/N: I'm almost done. I still don't know how many chapters left, but not many.**

_**Broken Wolf/D.R.M.**_


End file.
